This instagram from Runner’s World Magazine is helping me keep things in perspective during the final week before the TD Beach to Beacon.

Disclosure: FitKit is sponsoring the CabotFit team by giving us each a FitKit to try and one to giveaway. Cabot is sponsoring my participation in the TD Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race, along with travel and accomodations. I did not receive financial compensation to write this post. Opinions are my own.

Yesterday was my last training run before the road race. I ran three miles and felt good at this pace which is faster than when I started training for this race only one month ago (more on that later)..

Today I am taking a rest day from running, but I’m trying out a innovative fitness kit called FitKit. It’s an exercise solution that combines a few simple tools pictured here

with some online fitness resources. FitKit allows you to work on upper body, lower body, core, agility, flexiblity and cardio. I am a HUGE believer in a varied exercise routine that includes not only cardio, but also resistance training and functional fitness. (This kit includes ways to work it ALL!)

A growing body of clinical evidence shows that the healthiest bodies are those that reflect the hard work of a varied exercise rountine, including resistance training. Current fitness recommendations from The American College of Sports Medicine are for adults to strength train twice a week (three times is optimal).

I use functional fitness to focus on individual goals and demands of running, while keeping training applicable to the everyday stresses of life and running. Functional exercise mimics movement patterns in day-to-day activities and movement patterns in sports. Think of it as, train as you play or work.

If you aren’t sure how to vary your exercise routine, fitkit give you the tools and online resources to get started by yourself. As an incentive to give it a try, I ‘m gving one away. Please enter to win! Contest ends 8/6 2015 at 12:00 am . Must be U.S. resident and at least 18 years old to enter.

Disclosure: As a Wellness Champion/Team Leader for the virtual race, Cabot is paying for my entry fee, making a $100 donation in my name to the Wilmington, NC local food bank and providing me with a Cabot Legacy Collection Gift Box to raffle off in the month of October. In return I am writing this post. Opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my time.

Words to live by. Words the Cabot family of farm owners live by. This year, 2014, as Cabot celebrates 95 years of being a family farm cooperative, they are showing continued graditude and doing what’s near and dear to their hearts. They’re supporting the needs of their community at large, including helping to feed their neighbors in need. How? By sponsoring a virtual run to benefit Feeding America. #LegacyRace #CabotFit

You too can do some good with a random act of kindness that’s also a way to get some exercise, and have a little fun! Please join me in the Cabot Legacy Race to Benefit Feeding America. Here are the details:

When: October 25, 2014 (or anytime in the month of Oct.)

Where: Anywhere! It’s a virtual race!

Distance: You choose your distance from these options: 5K, 10K , half- , or full marathon.

Cost: $25 which includes a donation to Feeding America, a nonprofit whose mission is to feed the hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger.

Bonus: The first 100 individuals signing up will receive a Cabot Fit running shirt.

Feeling Lucky: Maybe you will be the one randomly selected participant to have Cabot donate $1200 in your name to a local food bank; that’s $1 for each of Cabot’s 1200 farm family owners.

Please connect with me as a community of runners from across the country! Make it fun by finding a friend to run with. Here’s my first round draft pick after our run last evening at the Wrightsville Beach Loop.